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Thirteen Ways of Looking at Bread
i.
taste buds awaken
to the aroma enveloping our neighborhood
mrs. curry is baking
this morning
ii.
staple of generations
cultures
peoples
“staff of life”
a common denominator
across civilizations
iii.
some people
are like bread
a hard outer crust
protecting
a soft, warm core
iv.
other people
like bread
get stale
if not attended to
v.
sometimes
dough is sweet
sometimes sour
like people
vi.
bread as sacrament
food for the soul
manna
communion
transforming the mundane
into divinity
vii.
bread as dough
show me the money
divine
become
mundane
viii.
some people are like
unleavened bread
a bit dense
ix.
other people
are like yeast
just a lot of hot air
and they know how
to get a rise
out of you
x.
the beauty of bread
is in its texture
and color
rough
smooth
scarred
seedy
black
brown
golden
ruddy
white
like people
xi.
bread is a vehicle
butter
jam
sandwiches
xii.
bread fills
our emptiness
(for a while, anyway)
xiii.
eventually
people learn
we do not live
by bread alone.
Submitted to Poetry Potluck:http://jinglepoetry.blogspot.com/ for which this week’s theme is Food, Drink and Indulgences.
This is a poetry sequence: a poetic device recently discussed in The Writer magazine (October, 2010) by poet Marilyn Taylor. She discusses Wallace Stevens poem: “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” I couldn’t resist trying this form and hope some of you might enjoy playing with it as well. Other poets who have written poetic sequences include Edna St. Vincent Millay, Sharon Olds, Jane Kenyon, Ezra Pound, William Carols Williams and Walt Whitman.
Victoria C. Slotto, Author 